Decision of the Federal Supreme Court on the Adjustment of Child and Spousal Maintenance in Divorce Proceedings

Facts

The Federal Supreme Court had to assess two appeals against a decision of the Cantonal Court of Bern. The appellant [A.] and the appellant [B.] are the parents of the son [C.] . By a protective measure order dated August 6, 2014, the son was placed in the custody of the mother, and [A.] was obliged to pay monthly CHF 2,500 for the maintenance of the mother and CHF 1,500 (plus child allowances) for the maintenance of the son. In early 2016, [A.] moved in with his new partner and reduced his workload to 70%. On October 11, 2016, [A.] filed for divorce and on January 11, 2017, requested the divorce court to provisionally modify the maintenance payments. The Regional Court then adjusted the maintenance payments accordingly. Both [B.] and [A.] appealed against this decision to the Cantonal Court of Bern. In its judgment of February 23, 2018, the Cantonal Court amended the child maintenance payments and the spousal maintenance.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court examined the appeals of the two parties against the decision of the Cantonal Court. It came to the following conclusions: 1. The Cantonal Court did not wrongly burden the appellant [A.] with the entire maintenance deficit for the duration of the divorce proceedings. [A.] could not unilaterally reduce his income in favor of caring for his second son at the expense of his maintenance obligations towards the first son and his wife. The existential…